HT-01B Magella Attack
The HT-01B Magella Attack tank was the main battle tank of the Principality of Zeon's ground forces throughout the One Year War. Technology & Combat Characteristics The Magella Attack used a powerful 175mm cannon for their main purposes of combatting the Earth Federation's M61 Main Battle Tanks and later mobile suit forces. A 3-barrelled 35mm machine gun, for attacks against infantry, rounded out the armaments. The Magella Attack's most distinguishing feature is a very large canopy-style cockpit very similar to fighter aircraft, which is very unusual for a tank but gives the men inside a more open view of the battlefield - in fact this cockpit, called the Magella Top, is designed to be detachable along with the entire main gun system so that the pilot could continue fighting in case the tank's hull was destroyed. In reality, the Magella Top was little more than a poorly qualified escape vessel with a gun, lacking the fuel to stay afloat for more than a few minutes. Even when compared to the M61, the Magella Attack has several significant drawbacks. The detachable top design of the Magella Attack severely limits its main gun's range of traverse to the point that Magella Attacks almost exclusively relied on maneuvering its hull for targeting, more like a casemate assault gun than a true main battle tank, and is unlikely to be afforded the same decree of protection as the fully-traversing turret of the M61. Then the advent of RGM-79 GM rendered Magella Attack tanks, as other weapons that preceded mobile suits were, mostly ineffective. But just as is the case with every other pre-MS mobile warfare weapon, the Magella actually scored victories against mobile suits after some rethinking of tactics by the virtue of its 175mm main gun being capable of destroying enemy mobile suits with a well-placed shot, and even luna titanium alloy armors can be penetrated or seriously compromised from a direct hit. Finally, Zeon engineers, motivated by the increasing shortage of all weapons during the late stage of the One Year War, were able to come up with some interesting contraptions. Magella Attack main guns were known to be jerry-rigged into hand-held weapons for MS-05 Zaku Is and MS-06 Zaku IIs as a stand-in for the standard 280mm Zaku Bazookas, and the hull assembly can be fused with the torso of a Zaku into the Zaku Tank, which came as a blessing to many Zeon forces that found themselves left with little more than spare parts or salvaged components. Abandoned Magella hulls, as part of a Zaku Tank or otherwise, proved to be a particularly versatile platform capable of being outfitted with items ranging from weapons such as missile launchers to engineering equipments such as dozer blades. Armaments ;*175mm Cannon :As the main weapon of Magella Attack, the 175mm Cannon fires an armor-piercing shot that could inflict serious damage to Federation's Type-61 MBTs, light armored vehicles and infrastructures, but had little effect against Luna Titanium-armored MS unless in close range. The stability provided by the tank's tracked chassis allows the cannon to be fired even when the tank was on the move without much adverse effect on its accuracy, but its strong recoil could pose a safety risk for the gunner/pilot when it was fired when the Magella Top was in flight. The 175mm Cannon would later form the basis of the ZIM/M·T-K175C recoilless rifle, a hand-held weapon developed for the MS-06J Zaku II Ground Type. ;*3-barrel 35mm Machine Gun :The 3-barrel 35mm Machine Gun was mounted on the frontal glacis of the Magella Base (it's unclear if the mounting is fixed or capable of limited-traverse). It was used against enemy infantry and light armored vehicles and targets. History Variants ;*Magella Eins Gallery ht-01b-top.jpg|Magella Top (Mobile Suit Gundam) GGen_Magella_Attack.png|Magella Attack from G Generation Spirits GGen_Magella_Top.png|Magella Top from G Generation Wars Ms14gd_p01_Promotion_GundamBattleOperation.jpg|Magella Attack (far right) in Gelgoog G's promotional campaign as featured in Gundam Battle Operation MagellaAttack_p03_InfantryAndDom_SideStory0079.jpg|Magella Attack MBT advances with Zeon Infantry with a pair of Doms in the background (from Side Story 0079: Rise From The Ashes) Gelgoogmar-magella-gihrensgreed.jpg|Federation troops being round up by Zeon forces with Magella Attack and Gelgoog Marine in the background (from Gihren's Greed) MagellaAttack_p01_MSG-TV_episode6.jpg|Magella Attack MBTs: front view (from Mobile Suit Gundam TV series) MagellaAttack_p02_MagellaTop_MSG-TV_episode6.jpg|Magella Attack: Magella Top detached from tank base (MSG) MagellaAttack_p04_Parade_ZeonicFront-IndignationOfZeon.jpg|Magella Attacks on parade (from Zeonic Front: Indignation of Zeon animation) Rtx440_p08_CrushMagella_MSIGLOO2-GravityFront_Episode3.jpg|A Magella Attack being crushed by E.F.F.'s Ground Assault Type Guntank in Odessa frontline (from MS IGLOO 2: The Gravity Front OVA) Manga MagellaAttack-ArmoredVehicle_OperationTroyManga.jpg|Zeon Infantry on the move with Magella Attack and Armored Vehicle (from Operation Troy) Gunpla Gunpla_1-144_OriginalMagellaAttack_box.jpg|1/144 Original Magella-Attack (1982): box art EX-MagellaAttack.jpg|1/144 EX Model Magella-Attack (2006): box art Action Figures MSiA_ZeonEarthInvasionSet_p02_USA_front.jpg|Mobile Suit in Action (MSiA / MIA) "Zaku & Magella Attack Tank" action figure set (North American release; 2001: package front view features Zaku II, Magella Attack, Dopp and Luggun action figures. MSiA_ZeonEarthInvasionSet_p02_USA_back.jpg|MSiA / MIA "Zaku & Magella Attack Tank" action figure set (North American release; 2001): package rear view. MSiA_ZeonEarthInvasionSet_p01_Asian_front.jpg|MSiA / MIA "Zeon Earth Invasion" action figure set (Asian limited edition; 2005): package front view features Zaku II Ground Type, Magella Attack, Dopp and Luggun action figures. MSiA_ZeonEarthInvasionSet_p01_Asian_back.jpg|MSiA / MIA "Zeon Earth Invasion" action figure set (Asian limited edition; 2005): package rear view. RobotDamashii_ht-01b_p01.jpg|Robot Damashii "HT-01B Magella-Attack" (Tamashii Web exclusive; 2011): package front view Notes and Trivia Reference External Links *HT-01B Magella Attack on MAHQ.net